Sylvester P. Smythe
Sylvester P. Smythe is Cracked's janitor and serves as the publication's official mascot. Depiction Sylvester is typically portrayed as a short, blonde man with wide, pleasant face. He usually is seen in his janitor's uniform of white overalls and painter's cap, often with a yellow "non-smiley-face" button on it. He is often depicted as mute and gentle of nature. History Sylvester appeared on the cover of the [[Cracked No. 1|very first issue of Cracked]] and was seen in the background throughout the issue. He was drawn in this issue (and many of his early appearances) as tall and lanky, usually engaged in the act of patching up cracks in the walls behind the main action. His hair, though already blonde (Bill Everett's Beetle Bailey-esqe depiction on issue No. 1's border notwithstanding), was depicted as long in the front and shaved bald in the back until the late sixties, when he would begin being depicted with a full head of hair. Various takes on this lankier Sylvester would appear for the first couple of years by such artists as Bill Everett, Will Elder and Jack Davis until John Severin's version became the standard around 1961. Originally, Sylvester was almost exclusively a side character, appearing in the background and on the cover, but not actively participating in the stories. As the Cracked cast of characters grew in the seventies, however, he and the others (Nanny Dickering, The Talking Blob, Sagebrush, etc.) began to appear in their own stories, most notably, the Cracked Movies. While often mute, Sylvester has spoken many times over the years, most extensively in a 1964 issue in which he ran for President. In later years, as the publication changed hands and the original artists left the magazine, the portrayal of Sylvester changed. He became more "extreme" and lost a lot of his innocence. By the time of the relaunch in 2006, he was being portrayed as something worthy of derision, although the final illustration featuring Sylvester (a portrait by John Severin from the third issue was rather dignified. Sylvester appeared in the pages of the "German Crackeds" (Kaputt, Das neue Kaputt and Stupid) only in reproduced material and he was never identified by name in those publications. The Brazilian publication Pancada, which reprinted Cracked material, embraced Sylvester as their mascot, renaming him Belarmino de Arruda. Appearances It would seem that Sylvester appeared in every single Cracked publication, even if only in the form of reproduced stock art, so a list of his appearances is pointless. If it's Cracked, he's there. Gallery Image:Sylvester-Anderson363.jpg|by Noel Anderson from Cracked No. 363 Sylvester-Clowes228.jpg|by Daniel Clowes (as "Stosh Gillespie") from Cracked No. 228 Image:Sylvester-Davisinset.jpg|by Jack Davis Sylvester-Davis14.jpg|by Jack Davis from the cover to Cracked No. 14 Image:Sylvester-Davis.jpg|by Jack Davis from the cover to Cracked No. 16 Sylvester-Duillo.jpg|by John Duillo from the cover to Cracked No. 59 Image:Sylvester-Elder5.jpg|by Will Elder from Cracked No. 5 Image:Sylvester-Elder.jpg|by Will Elder from the cover to Cracked No. 10 Image:Sylvester-Everett.jpg|by Bill Everett from the cover to Cracked No. 1 Image:Sylvester-EverettB.jpg|by Bill Everett from the cover to Cracked No. 1 Sylvester-FieldsMP21.jpg|by Gary Fields from Cracked Monster party No. 21 Sylvester-Franchioni.jpg|by Antonio Franchioni Sylvester-Frazier357.jpg|by Chuck Frazier from Cracked No. 357 Nanny-Sylvester-Knight233.jpg|by Milton Knight from Cracked No. 233 Sylvester-KupperbergMP28.jpg|by Alan Kupperberg from Cracked Monster Party No. 28 Sylvester-Maneely4.jpg|by Bill Maneely from Cracked No. 4 Sylvester-VicMartin.jpg|by Vic Martin from Cracked No. 250 Image:Sylvester-Orehek181.jpg|by Don Orehek from Cracked No. 181 Image:Sylvester-Orzechowski249.jpg|by Rob Orzechowski from Cracked No. 249 Sylvester-Ozkan.jpg|by Tayyar Ozkan from Cracked No. 357 Sylvester-Richmond346.jpg|by Tom Richmond from Cracked No. 346 Sylvester-Scaduto.jpg|by Al Scaduto Image:Sylvester-Severin11.jpg|by John Severin from the cover to Cracked No. 11 Sylvester-SeverinK57.jpg|by John Severin from Kaputt Nr. 57 Image:Sylvester-SeverinTCM3.jpg|by John Severin from Cracked: The Comedy Magazine No. 3 Image:Sylvester-Tyler.jpg|by Rurik Tyler Image:Sylvester-Ward199.jpg|by Bill Ward from Cracked No. 199 Main-front.png|from CrackedMag.com SylvesterDoll.jpg|The Sylvester P. Smythe doll Non-Cracked Appearances Though Cracked may have been a rung or two down the pop culture ladder from Mad, Sylvester did still make occasional appearances outside of his home, usually in rival humor magazines when they set their sights on their competitors. Thwak 4.jpg|by Kent Gamble from Thwak No. 4 Wacko 1.jpg|by Murad Gumen from Wacko No. 1 Sylvester-Sush.jpg|by Vic Martin from Crazy No. 1 Trash 4.jpg|from Trash No. 4 Category:Cracked regulars Category:Characters Category:Mascots